Despite times of crisis, the artisans are still busy in numerous small workshops, where the work is done by hand using old Florentine techniques.
The Ponte Vecchio is a symbol of Florentine gold jewellery: goldsmiths have been forging, engraving, boring and chasing here since 1593, when Ferdinando I de ‘ Medici decreed the transfer of the gold, silvers and jewel merchants’ shops.
Since the sixteenth century, Florentine goldsmiths have excelled in three different types of work: the first, produced in the Grand-Ducal workshops with continuous court commissions, was experimental and lavish, open to foreign influences and very refined. The second, equally refined and experimental, with a wealth of references, symbols and spirituality, was sacred gold work, commissioned by both the Catholic Church and the Grand Ducal Court.
In the workshops on the Ponte Vecchio, however, a more traditional production developed, aimed at satisfying a more commonplace demand and the needs of the growing bourgeoisie.
By Camera di Commercio di Firenze with Unioncamere
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The local area
Florence has been a production centre for hand-crafted jewellery since the middle ages. Still today, the charming, narrow streets of this Renaissance city surprise visitors with their artisans’ workshops and studios, which produce artistic and refined gold work with unmistakable Florentine skill.